7 steps to rewire public health for the future

Tight budgets, workforce shortages, increasing demands. There is no lack of challenges facing the public health community. But with those challenges come opportunities to transform the delivery of public health programs and services and improve health outcomes.

A new report from APHA delivers lessons from its 2012 Midyear Meeting along with key recommendations for positioning public health for the future.

Hundreds of public health practitioners, administrators and partners met last summer to envision the “new public health” at APHA’s 2012 Midyear Meeting in Charlotte, N.C. Presenters delivered encouraging stories from the frontlines of community prevention, most notably the positive outcomes unfolding thanks to support from the Communities Putting Prevention to Work and Community Transformation Grants programs funded through the Affordable Care Act. Topics ran the gamut, from community prevention and health disparities to partnering with the clinical sector and ensuring quality public health services.

A new APHA report just out presents a collection of lessons learned from presentations during that meeting along with action steps, and suggests there is no place to go but forward.

“Public health is going though amazing changes,” said APHA Executive Director Georges Benjamin during the meeting’s opening session. “This is a time for public health to begin re-envisioning itself.”

Wondering where to start? Here are seven recommendations presented in the report:

Adapt and thrive. Facing formidable challenges, public health must adapt, innovate and even take risks. It’s time to ask hard questions: Are we being efficient enough? Does this activity or service still provide good value?

Champion “health in all policies.” Now is the time to reach out to transportation planners, land-use decision-makers, school administrators, business owners and other would-be partners to engage them in improving community health. Get them involved in changing and creating the conditions for good health.

Engage the medical community. The Affordable Care Act embraces the notion that health happens both inside and outside the doctor’s office. Creating a new health system means integrating health care and public health.

Pick a partner. In a time of limited resources and competing priorities, community-based partnerships that engage and empower stakeholders may be the surest path to sustainability.

Share @PublicHealth. Learn how new technologies and communications tools can help you better reach the communities you serve and harness data to create opportunities for better health.

Demonstrate value. Collect data and stories to illustrate the value of public health in people’s lives and demonstrate return on investment.

Emphasize equity. Improving the nation’s health can’t come about without addressing health inequities. Fight for policies and resources that create the opportunities for all people to live healthy and prosper.

6 comments

I think that we need to do battle with the televised drug ads. Not by squelching them, but by effective use of media to inform folks about signs, symptoms and personal health maintenance. It’s beneficial for people to become stakeholders in their own health, not just by “asking their doctor to prescribe” the drug du jour.

I wouldn’t mind squelching the drug ads altogether. Drug companies justify their astonomical prices by blaming the cost of R&D and the FDA approval process. While these endeavors are undoubtedly expensive, most of the drug companies’ income is spent on advertising. If we do away with advertising, then perhaps (ha-ha) patients and insurers will pay less for pharmaceuticals, as companies will no longer direct revenue to expensive ads. Additionally, we need to focus on preventive measures such as lifestyle interventions that preclude or reduce the need for costly drugs. Otherwise, the US will continue to provide the most expensive but, least cost-effective healthcare in the world. A dubious distinction at best.

Public health agencies, organizations and those that sit as gatekeepers to the industry should be more focused on increasing the health literacy and self-efficacy of the population instead of using their authority to prevent others from doing so through discriminatory practices (self-imposed workforce shortage) and by censoring science.
The AICR survey shows that people do not understand the interrelated risk factors for cancer or how to avoid them. In addition the National Research Council International comparison of the US to other wealthy nations reports we live shorter lives and are poorer health across 9 health domains that crosses age spans regardless of financial position. They recommend alerting the public. How much more of a wake-up call does public health need?

I agree that public health serves a vital role in providing relevant, up to date health information to individuals that facilitates people making informed decisions. I disagree with the statement that public health “censors science” and don’t understand what is meant by “self-imposed workforce shortage?” Most of our medical information comes from the top medical entities in this country – like the CDC, NIH and many others. Public health could play a vital role in providing information on the changes, benefits and other relevant information regarding the AFA, although I have not seen much on this as of yet. With the Internet, and access to medical information from many different sources, people can at least inform themselves in order to make health decisions that fit their lifestyle, budget, etc. Most employees of public health are health professionals, RNs, MSN’s and at least college graduates. I see the AFA as a needed and positive first step in changing our medical care system for the better.

This article makes a very real and scary point that the US genmrneovt is constantly taking more control over multiple aspects of peoples lives. They are not allowing people to take action on their own, and since most of the bills being passed are done without the knowledge of US citizens, there are little people willing to fight back. The best example her is the law mandating everyone to get health insurance or else receive a fine. The US genmrneovt does not have the Constitutional right to force health insurance. I think all of the bills being passed in congress should be summed up in plain english and distributed in newspapers, online, and on tv, so that every citizen has a chance to object or agree.